Continuing its progress in the clean energy sector, John Cockerill announced its entry into the North American market with a new gigafactory in Baytown (Texas), where the Group will operate the first alkaline electrolyzer gigafactory in the U.S.

The formal groundbreaking of this new gigafactory was celebrated at an event attended by the Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, the John Cockerill Group CEO Francois Michel, and John Cockerill President Americas Nicolas de Coignac. Numerous journalists, representatives from Chambers County, and local stakeholders such as the Greater Houston Partnership, wera also in the attendance.

Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo said, “Today’s ribbon cutting at John Cockerill’s Houston manufacturing facility is the first step into deepening the supply chain between Belgium companies and the Texas Gulf Coast.”

François Michel, CEO of John Cockerill said, “We at John Cockerill look forward to growing our presence in the H₂ sector in North America, following in the footsteps of many other large-scale activities that we have established in the U.S. in the energy, heavy industry, and defense sectors since 2004. We have a long history of pushing industrial innovation all around the world. We see Belgium, as both one of the most solid gateways to Europe and one of the most vibrant innovation hubs of the continent. And we believe that there are many good reasons for Houston to play a similar role in North America. North America, and the U.S. in particular, has clearly long been a major development focus for John Cockerill, and I am excited to take our vision to the next level by building out capacity to create green H₂ solutions. And it’s thanks to our market diversity, expertise, and strong financial footing that John Cockerill can confidently stand behind the long-term performance guarantees that are needed to de risk and make real large-scale green H₂ projects. By efficiently producing green H₂, this system will play an essential role in decarbonizing sectors such as transportation, chemicals, energy, and heavy industry, getting the U.S. and individual businesses much closer to their emission reduction goals.”

Several recent events led John Cockerill to advance its U.S. expansion in the H₂ business. Over the past few years, the U.S. government has shown a commitment to supporting the H₂ sector through various initiatives and policies, implementing funding programs, tax incentives, and research investments to stimulate the development and deployment of H₂ technologies. This has created a promising environment for green H₂ and has driven the Group to act quickly to bring its large-scale technological solutions to U.S. customers as soon as possible. In particular, the Inflation Reduction Act—which further incentivizes H₂ investment—played a pivotal role in John Cockerill’s decision to enter the U.S.

John Cockerill selected the Baytown area outside of Houston. With a long history as an energy hub, Houston has the skilled workforce, infrastructure and local support necessary to expand further and establish the region as a clean energy hub as well. Nicolas de Coignac said, “The building of our new gigafactory was pre-owned. This is part of our strategy to hit the ground running and move quickly in the North American market, where the H₂ sector is developing at an incredibly rapid pace. First, by purchasing an existing building, we’re able to expedite or eliminate much of the permitting and construction that can cause projects to stagnate, and instead move straight into getting this facility up and running. From here, the interior will be cleaned and refurbished, and state-of-the-art machines, developed thanks to expertise gained from John Cockerill’s other H₂ factories, will be installed. For this new chapter, we’re focusing on sourcing much of the components of our equipment right here in the U.S., as we create a robust supply chain base that we will be building out in Houston and the surrounding region. With this complete, we’ll be able to produce our first electrolyzers out of the factory before the end of next year.”

The Prime Minister insisted on speed of execution and on mobilizing the expertise from large manufacturers to make the green transition real. François Michel said, “We have bought this site less than two month ago, and we will start assembling electrolyzers by the summer of next year. I would like to thank the Greater Houston partnership, the center for Houston’s future, Chamber’s County, and the city of Baytown for their strong support. I also would like to thank the Belgium government for being such a driving force to spur cooperation between Belgium and the Houston area. This investment here is a direct, tangible consequence or the government’s policy.”

The facility is expected to produce 1 GW per year of electrolyzers, creating 200 jobs and bolstering Houston’s position as a H₂ hub.